I sat smugly in the “e-readers must suck” gang till the beginning of 2018. If you are thinking of closing this tab because you too sit comfortably in that same group, I request you, please spare few minutes to read this till the end. Not any special reason, I haven’t mentioned anything out of the world here, but I do want to tell my experience with Kindle and I don’t want book lovers to discard this without even consideration.

e-readers can never replace physical books – Of course! And they shouldn’t either. Who wants someone or something else to occupy the space of books in their life, anyway? The smell of books, the touch, flipping the pages, the pretty book covers, even prettier bookmarks – aaah! who really wants to substitute this bliss for anything else, leave alone an electronic gadget?

But, but. Have you ever used that electronic gadget? Let’s just say, it does have a feel of its own because its your personal area where you store your favorite books. Basically, your personal library. Don’t you think you will immediately connect with something like that? At least, I feel genuinely attached to my Kindle!  The point is you have to stop treating it as a substitute for physical books. Because, its not. Its another way of doing your favorite activity. Is it better than the previous way? Well, you really don’t need that comparison as long as someone is not pointing a gun at you to only choose one.

All my physical copies are still with me and I love and cherish them even more now. Just like I love strolling around bookstores. Kindle or any e-reader is not a replacement to your existing love for books, don’t treat it as a betrayal, please. 🙂 Here’s why:

How Kindle changed my life?

As I mentioned above, I was always clear that I do not want to give e-readers any chance as it is never going to be the same experience as a physical copy. Not even when I moved to Bangalore from Delhi in 2017, even when it felt perfectly logical to not pile up here because God knows for how long I was going to be here. Anyhow, I still stuck to physical books. Then, I moved to Dubai for a supposedly 2 months assignment in Jan 2018. I carried one of the books I was reading with me. The idea was to buy more in Dubai when I finish this current one. Simply because I like buying books, stationery and cosmetics in new places that I visit. But what do I find in Dubai!!! The same copies that we get in India priced almost 4 times higher! The assignment got extended but I was supposed to travel to India after the first 3 months and be back in Dubai for another 3 months. By the end of initial 3 months, I had made up my mind that a Kindle is the perfect thing for someone who may have to travel often. So much so that I decided to buy one in Dubai, but I found out that it’s cheaper in India and my India trip was approaching anyway. So, I bought the Kindle in India and came back to Dubai for 3 months again.

I cannnot stress enough how much my life has changed. It is always with me, ALWAYS. I can read in any queue, can settle in any pretty looking cafe with a coffee to go along or I can just read on my way to work like I do/used to with physical copies. Of course, its not the same feeling as a physical book but let me tell you something even more important. The satisfaction of reading is the same. It’s a very, very satisfying feeling but just the touch and feel of the reading device is different. I love my Kindle way, way too much and I love reading on it as an experience. What I mean is holding it in my hands, flipping the pages, bookmarking stuff, deciding on a Kindle cover, adding stuff to my Kindle library is just as much fun, only in a different way.

In the end, just one thing – do give Kindle a chance before you say ‘e-readers are so not for me!’.